From a statistical point of view, you a) either already had your morning cup of coffee, or b) you’re having it right now while reading this post (we’re flattered, by the way, if your day begins with our blog). And while on the subject, did you know that on average, Germans drink 150 liters of coffee per year, surpassing beer, wine or mineral water?

Be that as it may, let’s talk price. How much are you willing to pay for your cup of coffee?

Well, a German scientist has come up with a rather unconventional approach of determining the “right” price. Based in the small southern town of Aspach, neurobiologist Kai-Markus Müller arrived with certainty and empirically backed up evidence to the conclusion that, coffee, and in particular – Starbucks coffee, was largely underpriced. According to the brain researcher (incidentally – a former sales professional), classic marketing research is scientifically unreliable: we can’t just trust people when they tell us how much they’re willing to pay for a product – that would be too simple.

And so, Müller decided to kick it up a notch: with the help of electroencephalography (or EGG – long live the acronyms!), he sought certain “neuronal mechanisms” in the human brain. He showed his subjects the same cup of Starbucks coffee several times but with different prices, while an EGG plotted their brain activity.

Alexander / Neuro Pricing / Source: Der Spiegel

Contrary to what you may think, despite being the world’s largest coffeehouse company with some 20,891 stores worldwide, it turns out that all those years, Starbucks has been doing business in complete oblivion of its true potential, missing out on millions in profits. Müller’s study concluded that his subjects were willing to pay between €2.10 and €2.40 for a cup of coffee – significantly more than the current €1.80 it sells for. So in case you felt there wasn’t enough science in your daily life, you still have something to look forward to: neuro pricing – the determination of the “right” price based on brain testing in a lab!

So brace yourselves coffee lovers, for the days of drinking cheap coffee are over! You might want to go: “well, thanks for ruining it for everyone else, Herr Müller!” but you can’t argue with science, can you?

From a statistical point of view, you a) either already had your morning cup of coffee, or b) you’re having it right now while reading this post (we’re flattered, by the way, if your day begins with our blog). And while on the subject, did you know that on average, Germans drink 150 liters of coffee per year, surpassing beer, wine or mineral water?

Be that as it may, let’s talk price. How much are you willing to pay for your cup of coffee?

Well, a German scientist has come up with a rather unconventional approach of determining the “right” price. Based in the small southern town of Aspach, neurobiologist Kai-Markus Müller arrived with certainty and empirically backed up evidence to the conclusion that, coffee, and in particular – Starbucks coffee, was largely underpriced. According to the brain researcher (incidentally – a former sales professional), classic marketing research is scientifically unreliable: we can’t just trust people when they tell us how much they’re willing to pay for a product – that would be too simple.

And so, Müller decided to kick it up a notch: with the help of electroencephalography (or EGG – long live the acronyms!), he sought certain “neuronal mechanisms” in the human brain. He showed his subjects the same cup of Starbucks coffee several times but with different prices, while an EGG plotted their brain activity.

Starbucks coffee price and brain activity // Der Spiegel

Contrary to what you may think, despite being the world’s largest coffeehouse company with some 20,891 stores worldwide, it turns out that all those years, Starbucks has been doing business in complete oblivion of its true potential, missing out on millions in profits. Müller’s study concluded that his subjects were willing to pay between €2.10 and €2.40 for a cup of coffee – significantly more than the current €1.80 it sells for. So in case you felt there wasn’t enough science in your daily life, you still have something to look forward to: neuro pricing – the determination of the “right” price based on brain testing in a lab!

So brace yourselves coffee lovers, for the days of drinking cheap coffee are over!

You might want to go: “well, thanks for ruining it for everyone else, Herr Müller!” but you can’t argue with science, can you?

Well, not so long ago, an ALF landed here at public link. And before you start wondering, unlike the legendary sitcom, this time ALF does not stand for Alien Life Form, but for Alex, Laura and Flo – our newest addition to the team. Together, they are ready and excited to get things done around here, each bringing-in an unique perspective, background and experience.

Laura

Now, if we tell you that Laura has been to Thailand, you might picture her as just another lousy tourist getting lost in a foreign land. Well, you’d be wrong. We happen to know for sure, that what looked like touristy island hopping, was actually a search for her very own Robinson Crusoe! We don’t know how successful that turned out to be, but Laura is now back to her hometown – Berlin. Being a third year Media Science student at the Technical University of Ilmenau, she now works with our team on the following topics: ‘Sustainability’ as well as ‘Food & Beverage’.

Flo

Our new intern Flo, comes from beautiful Tübingen, but for his studies he decided to move to Berlin. When he is not busy studying economic psychology, you can find him at one of his favorite spots in Berlin – the “Admiralsbrücke“. He might also showing off his sweet moves at the „Katerholzig“ club or even reading his newest book – “Die Straße“. After having discovered the wonders of Australia, and having done an internship at a Stuttgart advertising agency, Flo joined the public link crowd in September.

Alex

Alex, from Montreal, brings the international flair to public link. Having studied Commerce in college, he then decided to combine it with a Political Science degree. While a student, he also worked for the Canadian public service, as well as the airline industry, where he most likely got bitten by the travel bug. When he isn’t busy planning his next trip, Alex loves to get lost in a good book, while sipping on a nice cup of coffee in a cozy atmosphere. And in case we didn’t mention – he is our first Launch Academy participant!

To give its VitaminWater a boost, the Canadian branch of Coca-Cola decided to launch the good old “under-the-cap” promotion campaign. The idea was to print random words on the bottle caps, so they can be collected, arranged into phrases, and then sent-in for prizes. Clear, simple, and efficient. Right? Well, not so much.

Canada, as I am sure many of you already know, is a bilingual country, with French being the second official language next to English. And this is precisely where things have all the potential in the world to go wrong. Instead of sticking to the somewhat traditional way of targeting French and English speaking markets separately, Coca-Cola decided to kill two birds with one stone, by featuring two words – one in each language, on the same cap.

The campaign backfired last month, when Blake Loates, of Edmonton, Alberta, found the words “YOU RETARD“ printed on the underside of her cap. “You” being the English word and “Retard” being the French word for “late”.

A surprise under the cap // Blake Loates/Facebook

The occasional bilingual faux pas is anything but new in Canada, and most people have learned to take them with a certain dose of humor. But here is where things got terribly wrong. The message was particularly hurtful to the Alberta family, because Blake’s younger sister has cerebral palsy and autism. That same day, Blake’s father wrote a letter to the Coca-Cola board of directors, expressing his anger and signing off as “ex-Coke drinker”. Blake posted it on her Facebook page, and since then, it has been shared over a thousand times and has gotten even more likes and social media exposure. Coca-Cola’s apology came with no delay, issuing a formal statement that same week.

Although native speakers in both languages had checked the selected content for anything potentially inappropriate, the words were printed and paired at random. This “oversight” in not reviewing the words “from both an English and French perspective”, as the Coca-Cola spokesperson admitted, ended up costing the entire campaign. The company cancelled the contest and destroyed all promotional caps in its facilities.

To give its VitaminWater a boost, the Canadian branch of Coca-Cola decided to launch the good old “under-the-cap” promotion campaign. The idea was to print random words on the bottle caps, so they can be collected, arranged into phrases, and then sent-in for prizes. Clear, simple, and efficient. Right? Well, not so much.

Canada, as I am sure many of you already know, is a bilingual country, with French being the second official language next to English. And this is precisely where things have all the potential in the world to go wrong. Instead of sticking to the somewhat traditional way of targeting French and English speaking markets separately, Coca-Cola decided to kill two birds with one stone, by featuring two words – one in each language, on the same cap.

The campaign backfired last month, when Blake Loates, of Edmonton, Alberta, found the words “YOU RETARD“ printed on the underside of her cap. “You” being the English word and “Retard” being the French word for “late”.

A surprise under the cap // Blake Loates/Facebook

The occasional bilingual faux pas is anything but new in Canada, and most people have learned to take them with a certain dose of humor. But here is where things got terribly wrong. The message was particularly hurtful to the Alberta family, because Blake’s younger sister has cerebral palsy and autism. That same day, Blake’s father wrote a letter to the Coca-Cola board of directors, expressing his anger and signing off as “ex-Coke drinker”. Blake posted it on her Facebook page, and since then, it has been shared over a thousand times and has gotten even more likes and social media exposure. Coca-Cola’s apology came with no delay, issuing a formal statement that same week.

Although native speakers in both languages had checked the selected content for anything potentially inappropriate, the words were printed and paired at random. This “oversight” in not reviewing the words “from both an English and French perspective”, as the Coca-Cola spokesperson admitted, ended up costing the entire campaign. The company cancelled the contest and destroyed all promotional caps in its facilities.

Here at public link we’re all about launching stuff. Seriously, we’ve been launching products for over a decade now, and quite frankly – we’ve become pretty good at it. In fact, so good, that we now feel we could share something with other, like-minded young professionals from all four corners of the globe, while simultaneously learning about the communications & PR environment in their country of origin. That’s why, we’re happy to announce the creation of our Launch Academy, and welcome it’s first participant – Alexander Sumin.

Alexander Sumin // public link

Drawing parallels between Montreal and Berlin winters aside, Alex is actually providing us with a broader international outlook on communications and PR. He will be sharing some curious cases from communication practices in Canada, Germany and abroad, as well as write about some of his interesting encounters. Speaking of which, here is his first post.

Here at public link we’re all about launching stuff. Seriously, we’ve been launching products for over a decade now, and quite frankly – we’ve become pretty good at it. In fact, so good, that we now feel we could share something with other, like-minded young professionals from all four corners of the globe, while simultaneously learning about the communications & PR environment in their country of origin. That’s why, we’re happy to announce the creation of our Launch Academy, and welcome it’s first participant – Alexander Sumin.

Alexander Sumin // public link

Drawing parallels between Montreal and Berlin winters aside, Alex is actually providing us with a broader international outlook on communications and PR. He will be sharing some curious cases from communication practices in Canada, Germany and abroad, as well as write about some of his interesting encounters. Speaking of which, here is his first post.